


It’s About Time

by AmmoniaAndBleach



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Peraltiago, There’s a lot of pining, Time Travel, america’s dream couple is in danger, amy’s pregnant, pining! jake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:01:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22203022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmmoniaAndBleach/pseuds/AmmoniaAndBleach
Summary: The squad have just busted a dangerous time traveler, but Jake accidentally finds himself in 2013. More specifically, the day the new captain arrives. The worst part of it all? His wife now only sees him as a colleague.
Relationships: Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 53
Kudos: 213





	1. Operation Time Warp

“Peralta for the last time, this case is highly sensitive and I will not have you disparage its severity by linking it to one of your inane pop culture references.”

“Come on sir, we’re tracking a time traveller! Operation Time Warp is the perfect name for this case!”

There was a buzz in the air as Holt gave his morning briefing. Every detective in the precinct was on the edge of their seat, listening intently to their captain. This was undoubtedly the most exciting case any of them had ever been assigned.

The most noticeably excited person in the room was of course Jake Peralta. He lived for high-risk, high-intensity situations like this, probably thanks to his Die Hard obsession. 

Jake was sure that Holt had explained why the squad of all people had been trusted to catch this Caraveo guy, but as always he was in his own world, thinking of a snappy one liner for when he caught him.

His main contender was “Time’s up!” which was admittedly a little uninspired but it got the point across.

**

“Babe, this is without a doubt the dopest assignment ever! Even more so than that time I went undercover in the mafia!” Gushed Jake to his wife, Sergeant Amy Santiago when the briefing was over.

Amy couldn’t help but smile at Jake’s childlike enthusiasm. There was a time when that same smile was reserved only for when he made an ass of himself, or hurt himself in an attempt to either impress her or make her laugh. Not anymore. Over the years they had gone from colleagues to lovers to husband and wife, and now Jake earned that smile every single day.

Not only that, but soon their little family would become a little bit bigger. Amy was six months pregnant and neither of the parents-to-be had ever been happier.

“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Jake continued in a determined voice, “If me and the other detectives take down Caraveo, I get to name the baby. If you and your uniformed officers take him down then you get to.”

“Two things: You know it’s “the other detectives and I.” - and you’re on. First one to find Caraveo names the baby.”

The couple shared an intense handshake to seal the deal. Amy winked and Jake mouthed “I love you” before they went their separate ways.

“May the best parent win” Jake thought to himself.

**

“NYPD, FREEZE! Put your hands where I can see them!” Shouted Jake, bursting through the warehouse door. Caraveo was cornered. There were walls behind and to either side of him while Jake and Rosa stood in front of him, guns drawn. They had him and Amy was nowhere to be seen.

“Victor Caraveo, you’re under arrest for theft of government property.” Said Rosa coolly.

“Not so fast, detectives” said Caraveo, an eerie grin etched across his face. In his right hand he held up an extremely old looking pocket watch. 

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

“Yes, obviously.” Snapped Jake. “Just put it down on the ground and step away from it. We don’t have all day.”

“All right, all right.” 

Caraveo reached down and gently placed the pocket watch on the ground.

“Huh, well that worked out much better than I was expecting.” Said Jake cheerfully.

“Jake...” Rosa bit back, nodding towards Caraveo who had retrieved a gun from his jacket pocket and was pointing it at them.

“You already have two guns pointed at you, dumb-dumb. Please give me an excuse to fire.” Said Rosa.

Defeated, Caraveo dropped the weapon and put his hands behind his head. Rosa cuffed him, reciting his rights while Jake scooped up the pocket watch. 

“No sign of Amy!” Said Jake triumphantly. “I hope she doesn’t mind our baby being named Nakatomi. Works for a boy or a girl!” 

Rosa rolled her eyes in response. 

**

“Ha! In your face babe! That said I adore you and can’t wait to raise a child with you.” Was the first thing Jake said the next time he saw Amy in the precinct. It had been two hours since Caraveo was apprehended, and in that time Jake had sent his wife ten texts and two voice messages bragging about how much of a genius he was.

Amy looked up at her husband, beaming wider than ever before.

“Wait-” said Jake as his tone quickly shifted from one of arrogance to one of concern. “Why aren’t you devastated?”

“Jake, I found out where Caraveo was hiding about ten minutes before you did.”

Jake raised an eyebrow, pulling out his chair and sitting down at his desk.

“Go on.”

“...I told my uniformed officers to hold off and let the squad bust him. I let you win the bet.”

Jake’s draw dropped, pure disbelief written on his face.

“What? Babe, why did you let me win?”

“You let me win the bet when all those fugitives were on the loose. You moved into my apartment and it was in that moment that I knew I would do anything for you. I knew that you were the man I wanted to spend my life with.”

Jake could feel his eyes well up with tears. He loved this amazing woman in front of him so much and he never wanted her to forget it.

“Babe, you’re gonna be an amazing dad. I love you so much.” Amy continued, resting her hand on top of Jake’s.

“I love this so much!” Came a familiar voice from a few feet away.

“BOYLE!” Both of them yelled in unison.

**

“Peralta, Diaz. My office.” 

“Close the door, detective.”

Rosa closed the office door behind them. Captain Holt was standing at his desk, holding a large file that was presumably related to the Caraveo case.

“I want to congratulate both of you for your exemplary work today. A case of this magnitude is no easy task. There’s no telling what kind of destruction Caraveo would have caused had he not been apprehended.”

“Thank you, sir.” Replied Jake. “Hey, do you mind if I borrow the time machine so I can visit you back when you had that mustache?”

“I know you’re joking Peralta but... no.”

“Yeah, that’d be stupid” Jake said, almost to himself.

**

It was an honest mistake. 

He didn’t mean to do it.

Jake had just royally screwed up. One minute he was examining the pocket-watch-slash-time-machine, just harmlessly checking out the coolest piece of evidence ever, and the next minute, he was waking up in bed.

But where was Amy?

“Maybe she’s just gone in early.” Jake thought to himself. But the bed wasn’t warm. If she was gone then she had been gone for a while. He reached out his right arm to turn on the lamp beside his bed.

Where was the lamp beside his bed?

Jake jolted up, his body slowly becoming accustomed to being awake and his mind full of panic. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness and he could make out a few outlines of the objects around him.

This wasn’t his bed.

Oh my God. This wasn’t even his apartment.

Well, it was. Six years ago.

This was the apartment that used to belong to his grandmother.

“What the fuck?” Asked Jake to an empty room.

He sincerely hoped that he was just incredibly tired or else experiencing an intense fever dream. Making his way to the precinct, his mind was racing.

“That restaurant that used to be a flower shop? Why is it a flower shop again?”

Jake recalled his most recent case, and hoped that the answer to all of his questions wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Gina?” Jake exclaimed, entering the bullpen. “What are you doing here?”

“Just keeping this entire precinct from going under and looking damn good as I do it. Y’know, the ush. Why? Need something?”

“But... you left.”

“Ok, fine. I may have taken like three hours off yesterday to go get a bagel.”

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. Look, I have to go figure something out, Gina. I’ll catch up later.”

Trying his best to push down his growing sense of dread, Jake took one look at his desk. Sitting in the desk directly across from him was his colleague: Detective Amy Santiago. 

Not sergeant. Detective.

Not Wife. Colleague.

“No, no, no. This can’t be happening!” Jake thought to himself. The whole time travel theory he was working on was sounding less and less ridiculous under the circumstances.

He couldn’t bear to look at Amy. He couldn’t bear to look at her knowing what their future held while she had no idea.

Depending on the date, she may not even like him.

That was a horrible thought, and Jake just pushed it down because if he dwelled on it he knew he would cry. 

Composing himself, Jake approached Terry. “Hey sarge! You wouldn’t happen to know what date it is today, would you?”

“September 17th. Man you really gotta get it together.” Replied Terry. 

Jake felt stupid asking his next question, which came after a long pause.

“What year?” 

Terry burst into laughter. “You’re a funny guy, Jake. Ok, I’ll play along. It’s 2013.”

Jake’s face went white. 2013? A whole six-and-a-bit years back? Wordlessly, he turned from Terry and walked away. He didn’t know exactly where he was going. He just knew that something was seriously wrong and he needed to stay the hell away from Amy, for the sake of both his relationship and his sanity.

“Hello, I’m Captain Raymond Holt. I’m your new commanding officer.” Came a voice from behind him.

“Speech!” Yelled Amy.

“That was my speech.”

“Short and sweet.”

“You.” Said Holt, pointing at Jake. “Next time I see you I’d like you to be wearing a necktie.”

“So.” Thought Jake, “I’ve managed to accidentally travel to the day Captain Holt arrived, I’m stranded here and I’m apparently not married anymore. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool. No doubt, no doubt. Cool...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is going to be my first multichapter fic. Any and all feedback is welcome, and thank you so much if you’ve stuck it out so far. I promise there is more to come :)


	2. The Die Hard Paradox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the feedback on chapter one, I really do appreciate it! Sorry for the delay between chapters. I was busy with school but now the quarantine has given me the perfect excuse to write.
> 
> Regardless, please enjoy <3

One of the first things that Jake discovered about time travel was that it’s nothing like it is in the movies. There was no flash of light, no past version of yourself that you had to avoid, and apparently no way to get home.

As with most changes, Jake found that the first day was the hardest. He had asked Terry if he could work in the break room instead of at his desk because the sight of Amy was too much for him to handle.

The future mother of his child was out there in the bullpen, thinking about work and binders and the new captain and anything else that wasn’t him, and that thought wasn’t supposed to drive him insane? 

Jake didn’t work any of his cases in the break room. Instead he put all of his energy into getting back home. By 4 o’clock his internet search history looked like this:

Time traveler criminal  
Victor Caraveo criminal  
Caraveo  
Stopwatch  
Time machine  
Time travel  
Is time travel possible  
Dealing with being apart from a loved one  
Stopwatch time machine

The only one that was of any use to him was the one about being apart from a loved one, which was now bookmarked. As he was reading it, a voice that was sweet and all too familiar made him aware of Amy’s entrance - a warning that was too late.

“Hey, Peralta!” 

Jake flinched, and then he met Amy’s gaze with the same pale face that he had worn earlier.

“Peralta”

That’s all he was to her at this moment in time. A day ago she would’ve called him babe, or at least used his first name. Now his own last name represented everything he had potentially thrown away forever because of some stupid mistake.

And it was enough to break him completely.

“What are you up to in here? I’ve missed you sitting across from me so much!” Amy joked. She sat down in the chair next to Jake, who didn’t say a word.

“Wait, Jake are you crying?”

He looked at her with a certain reluctance - a reluctance to let her see him like this when she had done absolutely nothing to deserve it.

Jake had to think on his feet. He always hated lying to Amy but he couldn’t let her know why he was so miserable because it would ruin everything. Well, that was if everything wasn’t ruined already.

“Yeah. I’m, uh... I’m just a little upset because I just got out of a pretty serious relationship.”

That wasn’t necessarily a lie. It was a half truth and Amy would buy it because in 2013 neither of them really cared about the other’s personal life. The best lies were always close to the truth anyway.

“Oh, wow. Really?” Asked a suddenly sympathetic Amy. “I had no idea you were even dating anyone. I’m so sorry, Jake.”

She frowned at him, meeting his tear-filled gaze. Seeing Jake like this was strange to Amy. His usually goofy and admittedly charming exterior had been chipped away to reveal someone vulnerable, someone unrecognizable as Jake Peralta. It felt unnatural to Amy and she didn’t know what to say.

All she knew was that she hated seeing him like this for whatever reason. 

Whoever Jake just got out of a relationship with must have been a real asshole. She rested a hand on top of his, a comforting gesture that made Jake feel safe and miserable at the same time. 

Jake was embarrassed to even let Amy see him like this. Normally he wouldn’t have any problem with being vulnerable around her but this was different. The Amy sitting opposite him with her hand on top of his wasn’t the Amy he had spent the last six years of his life cultivating a meaningful relationship with.

His train of thought was disrupted by Amy, and it was probably for the best because he was hanging on by a thread.

“Ok, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Said Amy, squeezing Jake’s hand and sending a jolt of electricity down his spine. “We’re gonna get you some tissues, and when our shifts are over you’re gonna come round to my place and I’ll put Die Hard on. But I’m only watching the first one with you.” 

She shot him a warning glance as she finished her sentence, then broke out into a hopeful smile.

Jake’s own smile matched Amy’s, because in his humble opinion she was quite possibly the nicest and kindest person in the world, wife or not.

“I don’t know,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Can we also eat ice cream and make fun of the new captain?”

“Definite yes to the ice cream, but you haven’t even known Holt for a day. Just give him a chance!” She laughed. “But I guess I’ll put up with it on the condition that it’ll make you feel better and I get to make fun of Die Hard.”

Jake gasped theatrically, “The sacred texts! Don’t you dare!”

***

After his heart to heart with Amy, Jake was out of the break room and back at his desk, feeling significantly better than he was earlier.

Since Jake walked to work that morning he didn’t have to worry about his car once his shift was over. Amy was waiting for him in the parking lot after work, and off they went to her apartment.

Their future apartment. Together.

At first the ride was pleasant small talk, peppered with Jake’s pleas for Amy to let him put on some music.

“C’mon, just ONE Backstreet Boys song!”

“Jake, you know I can’t drive while the radio is playing. It’s distracting.”

He groaned, but stopped pestering her. That was until about a minute later when he was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to hear a Juice WRLD song.

He vocalized this urge, only to be met with a low groan.

“Jake, what did I just tell you? No music. Who the hell is Juice WRLD anyway?”

Shit, that’s right. 2013.

“I, uh... nevermind.” He responded, panicking slightly at the thought of being exposed. He would have to be less clumsy in the future. Desperate to change the subject, he brought up the first thing that he could think of.

“Y’know, I really appreciate this, Amy. Most people wouldn’t go out of their way like this.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” she said. “You’d do the same for me, right?”

“Oh,” thought Jake. “You have no idea...”

***

They arrived at Amy’s apartment a short while later. Jake was suddenly overcome with the strangest sensation. His future home with Amy was virtually unrecognizable. Everything in the apartment was perfectly positioned and immaculate, just how Amy liked it. Jake was certain that if she could see what her home would look like in just a few years, she would go into cardiac arrest. 

As they poured themselves a drink in Amy’s kitchen, Jake noted the absence of orange soda in the fridge. 

This was definitely weird. Like seeing your childhood home after some other family moves in. 

“Alright,” said Amy, setting out two bowls of ice cream while Jake put Die Hard on the TV, “I still haven’t seen the whole movie so I don’t want any spoilers.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to ruin somebody’s first time.” 

“That’s Argyle!” Jake exclaimed in a whisper as the airport scene at the beginning played.

Amy shot him a look.

“Ok, ok I’ll be quiet!”

***

About ten minutes and half a bowl of ice cream into the movie, Jake felt Amy’s head fall onto his shoulder. He was used to the feeling after being with her for so long, but the Amy beside him wasn’t even aware that they had any chemistry. 

So what was she doing?

Jake slowly angled his head down and to the left to take a look at his future wife. This caused her to look up and meet his gaze.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t fallen asleep.” She said quietly.

Jake turned his attention back to the screen. He was confused, but at the same time he was content to enjoy the small miracle of a movie night with his wife somehow after all that had happened.

***

For the next two hours, Jake barely thought about the whole time travel situation. Simply being in Amy’s presence and watching his favorite movie had a calming effect on him, to the extent that he was only brought back to reality when the credits rolled and Amy removed her head from the crook of his neck.

“Wow,” said Amy. “That was... surprisingly good.” 

“You don’t have to lie.” Replied Jake with a slight grin. He knew that she didn’t like it, only because she made it so unequivocally clear throughout their time together. Still, it was nice that she was willing to pretend for his sake.

“No, no, I did.” She said unconvincingly. The movie was important to him, and she didn’t know why but she wanted it to be important to her too. 

She tried to articulate this to Jake but couldn’t find the words. Instead she did the unthinkable.

She leaned in and kissed him.

***

Jake was frozen. The kiss took him completely by surprise and left him speechless. 

“Oh God.” Said Amy worriedly. “I should not have done that. Oh God. I’m so sorry Jake. I don’t know what came over me, I just...” She trailed off, looking at him for some sign of life.

What the hell was Jake going to do now? Amy from 2013 just kissed him, and he wanted to kiss her, but if he kissed her it may change the entire dynamic of their relationship when he got back to his own timeline.

Maybe he had already ruined the dynamic of their relationship by even going back in time. His head spun with that thought. Not even one day in to the whole time travel thing and he had already ruined it. Typical Jake.

Pale-faced and wide eyed, he stood up. 

“I have to go. Thank you for everything tonight, seriously.” 

No sooner had he said this than he was already out the door of her apartment. Amy tried to say something but he didn’t stop to listen.

God, he felt like such a dick. Amy was probably devastated and kicking herself over what she assumed was unrequited love.

Still, as harsh as it was, Jake believed that rejecting her advance was the only way to stop his own timeline from changing completely.

He walked the distance back to his old apartment, eyes red and head throbbing. Not even bothering to change out of his clothes, he did the only think that there was left to do.

He threw himself on the bed and tried his best to find sleep.


	3. Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Once again, thank you all for your kind words on chapter 2. It really means so much to me. I hope you enjoy chapter 3 :)

It was Friday night. Four days since Jake had gone back in time. Four days since Amy had kissed him. He had been avoiding her like the plague in work ever since, even though it made him feel like shit.

He scrolled through his phone contacts and tapped a familiar name.

If he was going to stand a chance at getting home, he would need some help.

The phone dialed, and then began to softly hum as it rang. After a few seconds, a woman’s voice could be heard.

“¿Hola?”

Crap. Not the same number in 2013. 

“Lo siento, tengo el número equivocado.”

Those Spanish lessons were really starting to pay off. He hung up and scrolled further down in his contacts until he found an older number and selected it.

The phone dialed and rang again.

“Come on, come on. Pick up.” Jake thought to himself. His future literally depended on this call. After about four rings there was a voice on the other end:

“Jake?, what’s up?”

He knew he was going to sound crazy. He knew that what he was about to do was against the rules of every time travel movie ever made, but it was the only shot he had.

“Charles, can you come round to my place? We need to talk.”

**

Charles Boyle stared at Jake for a moment in silent disbelief. 

“Y-you’re telling me that you’re a time traveler?”

“Look, Charles. I know it sounds crazy but you have to believe me, alright?” He could sense the desperation and weakness in his own voice. “I came here from the year 2020. I don’t belong here.”

Jake’s best friend crossed his arms, still skeptical. 

“Prove it.” He said.

“Ok, yeah. I can do that. But uh, before I do there’s something I have to tell you about the future.”

Boyle raised an eyebrow.

“Amy and I- we um... we end up together. Look,” He said, swiping through multiple pictures on his phone. 

Boyle was in shock. There was Jake at a water park, clear as day, with none other than Amy Santiago beside him. Another picture showed the couple with the rest of the squad in the background. Amy was kissing Jake’s cheek and Jake was staring at the camera, pulling a face. 

A third picture featured Amy holding up a hand to the camera, showing off a glistening engagement ring.

“Hold on a second, Jake.” Said Boyle between deep breaths. “Are you and Amy... you know?” 

In response, Jake reached into a nearby drawer and retrieved his own wedding ring.

“Can’t exactly wear this around under the circumstances.” He smiled.

Then, as if Boyle wasn’t ready to faint as it was, Jake dropped the bombshell.

“We’re, uh... we’re actually expecting a baby in April.”

“WHAT? OH MY GOD! I’M GONNA BE A CHI CHI! I’VE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR THIS!”

“Ok Charles, keep calm. Listen man, you’ve got to help me out here. We’re supposed to be finding out the sex soon. I need to get back, and you can’t tell anyone.”

Boyle poorly suppressed a squeal.

“Jake, I will do everything in my power to help you get back to 2020. Even if it kills me.”

“But... it preferably won’t, right?”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take for our baby.”

Jake screwed his face up but said nothing. He wasn’t sure if there was much wisdom in asking Boyle for help but it was certainly better than going through this alone.

For the first time in four days, Jake sat back in his chair and felt a metaphorical weight lift off his shoulders. He began to recount the story of how he found himself stuck in the past, as well as the events of that first night with Amy. 

Even if Boyle was just a pair of listening ears, Jake was glad to have him on his side.

**

“How does someone even start to wrap their head around something like this?” Asked an increasingly drained Boyle. He was slumped in an armchair by the window of Jake’s apartment, finishing his second cup of coffee.

“I don’t know, bud. I don’t even want to think about what happens if I don’t find an answer.” Jake was pacing the apartment, as he had been for the past five minutes, his head throbbing while he was bouncing possible solutions off of his friend to no avail.

Boyle turned his head so he could see the clock on the microwave. It told him that it was 1:38 in the morning, making it just over four hours since he had initially come over. Not much more was going to happen in the way of solutions at this rate.

“We’ve been at this for far too long, Jake. We have to take a break. Let’s talk about something else.”

After some hesitation, Jake obliged. Maybe a normal conversation would make his headache ease. It was only a minute later that they both realised that they had very little to talk about, given that there was a six year gap between them.

“I have an idea!” Boyle exclaimed suddenly. “I could ask you questions about the future!”

“I don’t know, Charles. That could have some pretty serious consequences. We don’t even know the impact that me being here will have, not to mention what I’ve already told you about me and Amy.”

“That’s a fair point. I just have one question, alright? Does anything happen between me and Rosa?”

“Oh, dip!” Jake shouted, a smile finally breaking out on his face. “I forgot you were totally in love with her!” He quickly noticed the discomfort on his friend’s face as the atmosphere became awkward. “I’m sorry, that was uncool. Um, no. You and Rosa don’t end up together.”

Boyle frowned, and Jake felt terrible.

“Hey! You do find happiness, I promise. In 2020 you’re living with the woman of your dreams and you have a family. I can’t tell you any names cause I don’t wanna risk some weird paradox or something, but I promise there’s someone out there for you.”

A sunbeam smile broke out across Boyle’s face.

“Really?”

“Really, bud.”

**

It was just after 3AM, and both Jake and Boyle were fighting off sleep.

“You wanna crash here?” Jake asked through a yawn. 

“Sure.”

“There’s no guest room, but there are blankets. We can use the couches in here, sleepover styles.”

Within the next five minutes, they were both out cold.

**

The sun broke through a gap in the curtains the next morning, casting a dim golden glow over Jake’s face and gently stirring him. He lay still, listening to the traffic three stories below as well as the chirping of birds. For a moment there was peace and tranquility, typical of any other Saturday morning. The difference was that on any other Saturday morning he’d be having breakfast with Amy, and watching her work her way through the morning crossword puzzle. He would drink his coffee, as he scrolled through instagram, and she would hum a song they both loved, only stopping occasionally to exclaim something like: “Babe! Thirteen across, facsimile!” and he would crack a smile because his wife was a dork, but by God she was his dork.

Jake got to his feet and walked towards Boyle, stretching.

“Charles.” He whispered, nudging him awake.

“Morning.” Boyle mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

“I don’t suppose you’re ready to jump right back into the whole time travel problem, but I just wanna thank you for all of your help last night. You’re my best friend. You know that, right?”

“I do.” Boyle smiled. “I genuinely believe we’ll all be able to laugh about this some day, you know. Until then I’m going to do the best that I can to help.”

Jake believed it too. As long as he was fighting to make everything return to normal, there was hope. 

The only question was how long would it take? He tried not to think about that. 

“You want breakfast?” He asked Boyle.

A few minutes later they were eating cereal in the kitchen, and they were once again bouncing ideas off of each other. Most were pretty laughable, like Charles’ suggestion that Jake should invent his own time machine. Others were sad, like Jake’s idea that involved just living the rest of his life from this new 2013 onwards and trying his best to live with it.

Eventually, though, Boyle had an idea.

“Hey, what if you look up the time traveler guy and see if he has a criminal record? Then you could find him and interrogate him.”

“That’s actually a solid idea, but what if I can’t find anything on him? What if he’s not in the system?”

“It’s still worth a shot, right?” Boyle replied.

On the counter, Jake’s phone began to buzz.

“Hold that thought.” Said Jake as he moved to answer it. 

“Hello?”  
“Uhm, yeah.”  
“Sure.”  
“Ok, yeah. I’ll see you then.”

Boyle looked at Jake quizzically.

“Well,” said Jake, sighing after hanging up, “that was Amy. She’s coming over to talk to me later because things have been so weird between us this week.”

“Oh crap. Jake, this is bad. What are you going to do?’

It took a moment before Jake responded. Boyle could practically see the gears turning in his friend’s head.

“I have an idea.” He said, finally. He spoke slowly and deliberately because he knew he had to get this right.

“What is it?” Asked Boyle, growing more anxious by the second.

“I’m going for the Hail Mary pass. There’s no other option.”

Boyle furrowed his brow.

“I’m going to tell her the truth. All of it.”


	4. Raymond Holt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s literally been over half a year since I’ve updated this aaahhh I’m so sorry. Here’s a short intermission chapter of sorts that has hopefully gotten me back into the swing of writing. Please enjoy :)

The new captain of the 99th precinct woke up an hour earlier than usual this morning. He tried to no avail to fall back to sleep lest he be too tired for his weekly squash game later. His husband Kevin was still sound asleep, even with the smell of plain toast coming from the kitchen.

Deviation from one’s daily routine should preferably be avoided at all costs, but sometimes it is entirely necessary.

Raymond Holt could not seem to take his mind off of detective Jake Peralta. There was something highly unusual about him. Upon his arrival Sergeant Jeffords had commented on Jake’s immaturity, but now Holt was suspicious that there was a deeper issue at play.

It was the weekend, and therefore Holt’s first real chance to reflect upon his first week at the 99th precinct. What had he noticed? 

Peralta had spent a significant chunk of time working in the break room as opposed to his desk on Holt’s first day. That behavior was irregular in and of itself, but there were further irregularities which Holt had perceived.

Peralta did not bring a car that day, and he had clocked out at exactly the same time as detective Santiago. The remainder of the week consisted of the following:

Peralta requesting to join detectives Boyle and Diaz on their respective stakeouts,

Peralta taking as many as ten bathroom breaks on Thursday,

Peralta insisting that detective Hitchcock or detective Scully replace detective Santiago on a stakeout he was conducting,

Peralta requesting to be sent home as many as 3 times on Friday to no avail,

Detective Santiago shifting in her seat uncomfortably any time Peralta entered or exited her direct line of sight.

It was evident: Peralta was avoiding Santiago.

But why?

Normally, Holt made a point of staying out of his employees’ personal lives, but he felt the need to intervene if a petty squabble would impinge on the productivity of his detectives.

Holt decided that his first order of business on Monday morning would be to confront Peralta and Santiago separately. If necessary, he would conduct team building exercises in an effort to make them overcome whatever the issue was. If that failed, a new seating arrangement in the precinct was in order.

Even at that, the nature of their work called for the detectives to cooperate with each other. If there was in fact a serious issue between Peralta and Santiago, it could entail disaster for the entire precinct.

Holt was overcome with an intense sense of purpose. This would be his first major issue to resolve at the 99th precinct, and he was never one to shy away from a challenge.

Kevin woke up eventually, joining Holt in the kitchen and putting another slice of bread in the toaster. Holt kissed his husband and left to pick up their Saturday morning coffee order from the local café. Unsweetened black coffee. Their favorite. 

Five minutes later, he was heading back in the direction he had came, with the coffee cups lightly scorching each hand.

On the other side of Brooklyn, Amy was walking down the street that lead to Jake’s apartment.


	5. More Like Pam And Jim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW it has been a year since I uploaded the first chapter of this fic my god, thank you for bearing with me if you’re still here. Enjoy the 5th instalment! (Also, can you tell that I’ve been binge watching The Office recently?)

Jake pressed the rewind button on his remote. 

He was watching an episode of The Office (the one where Dwight became the head of sales,) rewinding because he had missed the setup of another joke because his mind was elsewhere.

Boyle had left about an hour ago, and without any company Jake couldn’t pull his mind away from thoughts of Amy. She would be here any minute and he would have to tell her about the whole time travel thing and she would get pissed or upset and the total number of lives he would have ruined would grow to two and oh god he was spiraling.

Half-focused on the TV in front of him, Jake wished that he and Amy could be more like Pam and Jim. They seemed to have it so easy. Where was the episode where Jim accidentally sent himself back in time to when Pam was engaged to Roy? There wasn’t one. It was so unfair. 

**

The knock came in the final minute of the episode. Jake got up and hit the power button on the TV on his way to answer the door. His hand giving an involuntary twitch, he turned the handle. There was Amy, her dark hair framing her beautiful face. 

“Hey,”

“Um, hi. Come in.”

Amy followed Jake into his apartment, already at a loss for what to say and hoping that he would be the one to initiate. He gestured at a small couch, taking the armchair for himself.

**

“Listen, Ames. There is literally no right way for me to break this news to you, but...”

She donned a stupid, smug look that she always had when she solved a case. A look that said, “lay it on me Peralta, I’m too smart for you to break any news to me that I didn’t already know.”

We’ll see about that.

Fuck it. Here goes.

“I’m from the future,”

She snorted but he continued with a straight face.

“and basically, I accidentally got myself stuck in the past. Went right back to the day Captain Holt arrived at the precinct.”

For the next thirty seconds or so, Amy did not believe a word Jake said. 

Right until he showed her the same pictures he had shown Charles the night before.

**

“No.” Said Amy decisively, palm against her forehead as she sat on the floor, leaning against a bookcase.

Honestly, it was a better reaction than Jake could’ve hoped for.

“I don’t- I mean... time travel? MARRIED? A baby with... you?”

Ok, she could try to be a little less offended. She was the one who kissed him in her apartment after all.

“I don’t know how much I’ve risked by telling you this-“

“No. You don’t!” She snapped. “I mean for God’s sake Peralta, when was the last time you watched a time travel movie? We’re both fucked!” Her voice cracked slightly.

Even in their six years together, it wasn’t often that Jake heard Amy swear unless they were having sex. She had reached new levels of mad.

A single sob escaped from her throat as she fell back, sending vibrations through the bookcase and the wall adjacent to it.

Seeing Amy look so defeated was what made Jake lose any hope he had left. He stood up and crossed the room to approach her. Wordlessly, he sat down on the floor and wrapped his arms around her. 

He felt the weight of her head crash onto his shoulder.

**

“Hold on. What did you say that perp’s name was again?”

“Caraveo.”

They had been sitting in the same position for about 20 minutes, but suddenly she twisted her head to look up at him .

“Caraveo,” She echoed before jolting up onto her feet.

“Look, this might be a long shot but my dad put away this mad scientist guy back in the day. He was doing something illegal with neutrinos and for some reason it was his squad that got assigned to it. His name was Dmitri Caraveo.”

“Holy shit!” Jake’s eyes widened, joining Amy on his feet.

Asshole scientist had an asshole son who wanted to avenge his dad. It made perfect sense. 

“I’ll need to get information from my dad, but if my hunch is right, you might actually have a shot at getting back!”

Overcome with the emotion associated with the first sliver of hope in days, Jake lunged at Amy, picked her up and spun her around gently. She squealed in a mixture of surprise and excitement. 

“Pam and Jim ain’t got nothing on us!” He thought to himself. He was going home!

If he was any less excited, Jake might have considered the implications of telling 2013 Amy that they eventually marry and have a kid.

But one problem at a time.


End file.
